’Cats come back after Lions go cold

Sunday, February 17, 2013

— Freshman Allie Freeman scored nine of his 15 points in the final 5:59, leading host Episcopal Collegiate to a come-from-behind 39-32 victory over Jessieville in Saturday’s championship game of the 3A-5 Tournament in Little Rock.

Jessieville (20-7) led 24-16 with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter before the Wildcats (26-2) made their move.

Freeman, a 5-10 guard, made a steal and layup with 4:07 remaining to give Episcopal its first lead since the first minute of the third quarter. He also connected on two free throws and had another steal and layup in the game’s final 40.1 seconds as the Wildcats ended the contest by scoring the final eight points.

“If we can keep him settled down and tuned into the game, he’s a difference-maker,” Episcopal Coach Micah Marsh said of Freeman. “It showed in the fourth quarter.”

Episcopal struggled from the floor in the first three-quarters, hitting only 6 of 27 shots, including 1 of 10 on three-pointers. The Wildcats, however, were 5 of 11 from the floor in the final eight minutes. Jessieville was 13 of 34 from the floor.

Sophomore Mahlon Martin added nine points for Episcopal. Jessieville sophomore Johnny Jordan scored a teamhigh 11 points.

Freeman hit his threepointer with 5:59 to play to cut Jessieville’s lead to 26-23. The Lions built the lead to four on Braden Davis’ three-point play with 5:02 left, but Episcopal scored 13 of the game’s final 15 points.

Jessieville’s Chase Anderson’s layup with 4:00 remaining gave his team a 32-31 advantage, but it was the Lions’ final points.

“I thought we took a couple of quick shots and that hurt us,” Jessieville Coach Eddie Lamb said. “And when we fouled them, it wasn’t whilethey were shooting. Free throws late in the game is what won the game for them.”

Episcopal was 14 of 18 from the line, including 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter.

“We tried to pick it up there in the fourth quarter, and we got it going,” Marsh said. “They missed a couple of shots, and we hit a couple of shots that got us back in it.”GIRLS JESSIEVILLE 45, E STEM 43

Junior guard Amanda Rhodes came up with three steals in the final 64 seconds and hit two crucial free throws with 28.8 seconds remaining to allow the Lady Lions (27-0) to escape with avictory over the Lady Mets (18-5) in the girls championship game.

Senior post player Peyton Herrell scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Jessieville, which trailed 39-34 with 4:10 remaining.

Rhodes’ steal and layup with 1:00 left put the Lady Lions ahead for good and started a string of five consecutive points for a 45-41 lead.

E Stem freshman Gia Hayes pulled the Lady Mets to within 45-43 with two free throws with 16.5 seconds left. After Jessieville’s Carson Lamb missed two free throws with 8.7 seconds to play, the Lady Mets’ final shot at a victory ended when Becca Mosler’s half-court shot hit the backboard and the rim, but did not fall through.

Payton Lamb added nine points and made six assists for Jessieville. Olivia McWilliams, who had 29 points in a semifinal victory over Perryville, led E Stem with 12 points. Hayes finished with nine.

Sports, Pages 33 on 02/17/2013